''Dangerous Moonlight'' (US: ''Suicide Squadron'') is a 1941 British film, directed by

Brian Desmond Hurst Brian Desmond Hurst (12 February 1895 – 26 September 1986) was a Belfast-born film director. With over thirty films in his filmography, Hurst has been hailed as Northern Ireland's best film director.Screening will honour 'NI's best film ...

and starring

Anton Walbrook Adolf Anton Wilhelm Wohlbrück (19 November 18969 August 1967) was an Austrian actor who settled in the United Kingdom under the name Anton Walbrook. A popular performer in Austria and pre-war Germany, he left in 1936 out of concerns for his ...

. Among the costumes, the gowns were designed by

Cecil Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as an Oscar–winning stage and costume designer for films and the theat ...

. The film is best known for its score written by

Richard Addinsell Richard Stewart Addinsell (13 January 190414 November 1977) was an English composer, best known for film music, primarily his '' Warsaw Concerto'', composed for the 1941 film '' Dangerous Moonlight'' (also known under the later title ''Suicide S ...

, orchestrated by

Roy Douglas Richard Roy Douglas (12 December 1907 – 23 March 2015) was an English composer, pianist and arranger. He worked as musical assistant to Ralph Vaughan Williams, William Walton, and Richard Addinsell, made well-known orchestrations of works su ...

, which includes the ''

Warsaw Concerto The ''Warsaw Concerto'' is a short work for piano and orchestra by Richard Addinsell, written for the 1941 British film '' Dangerous Moonlight'', which is about the Polish struggle against the 1939 invasion by Nazi Germany. In performance it norma ...

''.

''Dangerous Moonlights love-story plot, told mainly in flashbacks, revolves around the fictional composer of the ''

'', a

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'' or , "virtuous", Late Latin ''virtuosus'', Latin ''virtus'', "virtue", "excellence" or "skill") is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as ...

and "shell-shocked"

combat Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

, who meets an American war correspondent in Warsaw, and later returns from America to join the RAF in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to continue to fight against the Germans and their

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

.Jahiel, Edwin
"Dangerous Moonlight (UK, 1941)."
''Movie Reviews by Edwin Jahiel''. Retrieved: 7 May 2012.

Plot

During the

German invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week afte ...

, Polish airman and piano virtuoso Stefan Radecki (

) meets American reporter Carole Peters (

Sally Gray Constance Vera Browne, Baroness Oranmore and Browne (''née'' Stevens; 14 February 1915 – 24 September 2006), commonly known as Sally Gray, was an English film actress of the 1930s and 1940s. Her obituary in ''The Irish Times'' described he ...

). He volunteers to fly a "suicide mission" against Germany, but is not selected. Radecki is among the last to escape Warsaw and months later, in New York, he and Carole meet again, and marry. In England, Radecki gives a public concert and reveals that he has come back to fight, volunteering to fly as a pilot in a Polish squadron, fighting in the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

, even though Carole fears he will be killed. His final mission ends with his self-sacrifice by crashing into a German aircraft. He is badly injured in the crash and suffers from amnesia. Later, Radecki is in a London hospital, recovering from his injuries. He begins to remember his past, recalling composing the ''Warsaw Concerto'', while the Germans bomb the city, and when he first met his wife. Sitting at the piano, Radecki sees Carole and says, "Carole, it's not safe to go out with you when the moon is so bright", repeating the first words he ever spoke to her.

Cast

as Stefan "Steve" Radecki *

as Carole Peters Radecka *

Derrick De Marney Derrick Raoul Edouard Alfred De Marney (21 September 1906 – 18 February 1978) was an English stage and film actor and producer, of French and Irish ancestry. Actor The son of Violet Eileen Concanen and Arthur De Marney, and the grandson of ...

as Michael "Mike" Carroll, Radecki's manager * Cecil Parker as Specialist * Percy Parsons as Bill Peters *

Kenneth Kent Kenneth Kent (20 April 1892 – 17 November 1963) was an English actor. He is most notable for his roles as Inspector Hanaud in the film '' At the Villa Rose'' (1940) and as Emperor Napoleon in the film ''Idol of Paris'' (1948). Partial filmo ...

as Andre De Guise, the impresario * J. H. Roberts as Residing physician *

Guy Middleton Guy Middleton Powell (14 December 1906 – 30 July 1973), better known as Guy Middleton, was an English character actor, film character actor. Biography Guy Middleton was born in Hove, Sussex, and originally worked in the London Stock Exch ...

as "Shorty" *

John Laurie John Paton Laurie (25 March 1897 – 23 June 1980) was a Scottish actor. In the course of his career, Laurie performed on the stage and in films as well as television. He is perhaps best remembered for his role in the sitcom ''Dad's Army'' (196 ...

as British commander *

Frederick Valk Frederick Valk (10 June 1895 – 23 July 1956) was a German-born Jewish stage and screen actor of Czech Jewish descent who fled to the United Kingdom in the late 1930s to escape Nazi persecution, and subsequently became a naturalised British cit ...

as Polish bomber commander *

O. B. Clarence Oliver Burchett Clarence (25 March 1870, Hampstead, London – 2 October 1955, Hove, Sussex) was an English actor. Following his education at Dover College and University College Hospital, he made his stage debut in 1890. His experience includ ...

as Waiter with tray of wine * Marian Spencer as Miss Gratton, De Guise's secretary *

Philip Friend Philip Wyndham Friend (20 February 1915 in Horsham, Sussex – 1 September 1987 in Chiddingfold, Surrey) was a British film and television actor. Career Britain Friend went to Bradfield College where he became interested in acting. He began ...

as Pete, RAF pilot *

Michael Rennie Michael Rennie (born Eric Alexander Rennie; 25 August 1909 – 10 June 1971) was a British film, television and stage actor, who had leading roles in a number of Hollywood films, including his portrayal of the space visitor Klaatu in the s ...

as Kapulski, Polish pilot

Production

''Dangerous Moonlight'' was produced by the British unit of RKO, which financed it. Since music was such a key element in the film, Walbrook, who was an accomplished amateur pianist, is seen playing in the film, although the music on the soundtrack is played by the professional pianist

Louis Kentner Louis Philip Kentner (19 July 190523 September 1987) was a Hungarian, later British, pianist who excelled in the works of Chopin and Liszt, as well as the Hungarian repertoire. Life and career He was born Lajos Kentner in Karwin in Austrian S ...

. Kentner's involvement was initially uncredited, as he thought that being seen to be playing film music would not help his career. He changed his mind on seeing the film's success. Aerial scenes were actually filmed in combat and feature the No 74 Squadron (Squadron lettering "ZP")

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

fighters that flew in the Battle of Britain.

Reception

Released initially in the UK as ''Dangerous Moonlight'', it was a box office success in Great Britain, although contemporary reviews were generally unfavourable. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' review described it as principally "a sentimental fable in which the excellent Anton Walbrook, so eloquent as the Hutterite leader in ''

The Invaders ''The Invaders'' is an American science-fiction television series created by Larry Cohen that aired on ABC for two seasons, from 1967 to 1968. Roy Thinnes stars as David Vincent, who after stumbling across evidence of an in-progress invasion ...

'', and Sally Gray make a listless and anemic pair of lovers. Derrick De Marney does much better by the roguish character of an Irish daredevil. None of them has lifted the film above the level of a hackneyed fiction." ''Dangerous Moonlight'' was a melange of art and warfare, with the best-remembered scenes involving the ''

'', composed by

, one of the most beloved classical pieces that emerged from the period.Parish 1990, p. 388. Walbrook was not pleased with his performance and considered the film his least favourite. When released in the United States, the film was renamed ''Suicide Squadron'' in a cut 83 minute version, and distributed by Republic Pictures under lease, although its UK release was through RKO Radio British. Despite relying heavily on its film music, ''Variety'' noted that the sound quality was noticeably poor, especially in early scenes, although the aerial sequences, however, were particularly effective. Among modern appraisals,

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...

commented that ''Dangerous Moonlight'' was an "intelligently presented account of concert pianist who becomes a member of a British fighter squadron during WW2; musical interludes (including Richard Addinsell's well-known ''Warsaw Concerto'') well handled. Look for Michael Rennie in a small role.""Leonard Maltin Movie Review."
''Turner Classic Movies.'' Retrieved; 7 May 2012. while a 2016 book on Hurst's films dedicates a section to ''Dangerous Moonlight''.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Evans, Alun. ''Brassey's Guide to War Films''. Dulles, Virginia: Potomac Books, 2000. . * Farmer, James H. ''Broken Wings: Hollywood's Air Crashes.'' Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Pub Co., 1984. . * Parish, James Robert. ''The Great Combat Pictures: Twentieth-Century Warfare on the Screen''. Metuchen, New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press, 1990. . * Truesdale, David and Allan Esler Smith. ''Theirs is the Glory: Arnhem, Hurst and Conflict on Film''. Warwick, Warwickshire, UK: Helion & Company, 2016. .

External links

* * * {{Brian Desmond Hurst 1941 films British war drama films British aviation films Battle of Britain films British black-and-white films RKO Pictures films Films about classical music and musicians Films directed by Brian Desmond Hurst Films scored by Richard Addinsell 1940s war drama films 1941 drama films 1940s English-language films 1940s British films